Page 28 of Set Me On Fire

She didn’t need me leading the way, knowing where the conference room was. In the early days of their… whatever their relationship was, he’d brought her to events like that, proud to show off a pretty girl like her. The invites had fallen off, and we’d all thought she’d broken up with him, but then she’d turn up like this. Picking up drunk dudes like a bouncer at the endof the night, she deserved more. I was about to say something to that effect as we walked back in the door, but apparently everyone had kept playing.

“Kiss the person next to you.” Dave crowed, leaning closer to Millie. “With tongue. Time to pucker up, Dazza.”

“What the…?”

Katie’s voice was small, yet I heard the pain there, and that’s when I really regretted starting all this. I hadn’t thought this through, something everyone from my parents to my teachers and bosses said to me at some point, and that same flush of regret hit me hard right now.

“Kiss someone next to you?”

Millie read the dare aloud again, then rose up, and Dave watched her every move. So did Noah and Knox.

“Throw the coin,” Noah urged. “Land on veto.”

“But I’ve already had my turn.”

Millie’s voice was as hot and silken as that damn red dress she had worn, feeling like it was slipping over my skin, but Knox got to feel the body underneath for real. She slid onto his lap and then turned, running a single finger down the side of his face. I felt it like it was happening to me, like it was my cock she was grinding into as she wiggled into place. My lips pursed, burning in anticipation for a kiss that would never happen, yet somehow that didn’t matter.

I’d aimed to get Noah kissing Millie tonight, but that’s not how Shenanigans worked. Lady Luck decided, not me. My hands went to the doorframe, the wood feeling like it was imprinted with my fingerprints as I watched her lean closer. She hovered over Knox, watching his every move, and that could be put down to a boldness brought on by wine, but not him. His hands clasped the arms of his chair so hard I was sure they were about to buckle, right as she darted close and kissed him.

Chapter 16

Millie

This was all supposed to be a game.

I talked big, but I don’t think I actually meant to go home with any of the guys. I was wired, tired, and feeling reckless after seeing Noah. It was like a punch to the gut, and just this once, I think I wanted him to feel the same damn way. None of that remained as I slid into Knox’s lap. It wasn’t my teenage crush I saw, but him. My rescuer, my protector, my…

Fucking amazing kisser.

I thought he was going to leave me to do everything, but a strong hand slid into my hair and held me in place, his mouth taking mine. That was the only way to describe such a masterful kiss. The sharp intake of breath, that slight pause, then he was surging forward, parting my lips as his tongue slid between them. I’d only specified this condition in the dare to try and show I wasn’t intimidated, but damn. Usually my mouth just got me in trouble, but right now, it was heaven.

I felt like I was made of the same stuff as my dress, soft and slick. Knox wasn’t satisfied with that, his hands going to my hips, clamping down on my arse before tugging down my shirt.Shit, I was commando under these pants and the waistband was gaping. That thought felt like a ray of sunlight in a great fiery haze, trying to lead me back to rationality, but nope. It wasn’t the possibility of flashing my arse to the room that stopped me, but another feminine voice.

“Sorry to interrupt.”

I jerked away, and that’s when my brain finally came back online, because there was a girl standing in the doorway looking way too pale. Holy shit, did I just pash her boyfriend? That idea felt wrong on so many levels. I’d walked in on an old boyfriend banging a so-called friend. Not Jamie obviously, though she’d offered to create voodoo dolls in the cheater’s likeness and stab them for me. I knew what that kind of pain was like. I would never, ever, ever?—

“I’m just here to pick up Dave,” she explained, looking everywhere but at me.

Dave? Dave! Dave had a goddamn girlfriend? I shouldn’t have been surprised. His cartoonish leer was something I was familiar with. Blokes at the pub often thought the fact we were paid to serve them meant we were theirs for the taking, something I corrected pretty sharply.

“Katie…” Yep, there it was, the bunny in the headlights look as Dave realised he’d been caught in a compromising situation. “Babe, we were just playing… It’s just a game. Noah and his team?—”

“No one touched Dave,” I said, wanting to put Katie out of her misery more than her own boyfriend did apparently, because his apology sucked. “Honestly, I wouldn’t even have played the game if I knew he had a girlfriend.”

“She’s not—” he started to say.

“Shut up.”

Katie and I snorted when we both said that at the same time, but she took command of the conversation.

“Get in the car.”

That long-suffering sigh spoke volumes, and Dave seemed to get a clue, getting to his feet and following her out.

Leaving just me and them.

Still straddling Knox’s hips, I realised, but more interesting was when I went to dismount. Knox’s hands gripped me tighter for just a second before he forced them away so I could get free. I shook my head, then wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, realising that I had let things go too far. Charlie watched everything with eyes that danced with mischief, but Noah?

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